Sleep during infancy, inhibitory control and working memory in toddlers: findings from the FinnBrain cohort study

Sleep Science and Practice

Riikka Korja¹  Isabel Morales-Muñoz²  E. Juulia Paavonen³  Eeva Eskola⁴  Saara Nolvi⁵  Hasse Karlsson⁶  Linnea Karlsson⁶  Michelle Fernandes⁷  Tiina Mäkelä⁸ 

[1] Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland;FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland;Department of Public Health and Welfare, Equality Unit, Mental Health team, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland;Institute for Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK;Department of Public Health and Welfare, Equality Unit, Mental Health team, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland;Pediatric Research Center, Child Psychiatry, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland;FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland;FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland;Department of Medical Psychology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany;Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, Turku Institute for Advanced Studies,

[2] University of Turku, Turku, Finland;FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland;Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland;Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland;Nuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK;Faculty of Medicine, Department of Paediatrics, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK;Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland;

关键词: Sleep;    Inhibitory control;    Working memory;    Infancy;    Toddlers;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41606-021-00064-4

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSleep difficulties are associated with impaired executive functions (EFs) in school-aged children. However, much less is known about how sleep during infancy relates to EF in infants and toddlers. The aim of this study was to investigate whether parent-reported sleep patterns at 6 and 12 months were associated with their inhibitory control (IC) and working memory (WM) performances at 30 months.MethodsThis study included children whose parents filled in a sleep questionnaire at 6 or 12 months and who participated in the development assessment at 30 months (initial available sample at 30 months; N = 472). The final sample comprised (a) 359 infants with IC task and sleep questionnaire at 6 months and 322 toddlers at 12 months and (b) 364 infants with WM task and sleep questionnaire at 6 months and 327 toddlers at 12 months. Nighttime, daytime and total sleep duration, frequency of night awakenings, time awake at night, and proportion of daytime sleep were assessed at 6 and 12 months using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire. IC at 30 months was measured using a modified version of the Snack Delay task, and WM was measured at 30 months using the Spin the Pots task. Further, children were divided into three groups (i.e., “poor sleepers”, “intermediate sleepers”, and “good sleepers”) based on percentile cut-offs (i.e., <10th, 10th–90th and > 90th percentiles) to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the direction and nature of the associations between sleep and EF in early childhood.ResultsOur results showed an inverted U-shaped association between proportion of daytime sleep at 12 months and IC at 30 months, indicating that average proportions of daytime sleep were longitudinally associated with better IC performance. Furthermore, a linear relation between time awake at night at 12 months and WM at 30 months was found, with more time awake at night associating with worse WM.ConclusionsOur findings support the hypothesis that sleep disruption in early childhood is associated with the development of later EF and suggest that various sleep difficulties at 12 months distinctively affect WM and IC in toddlers, possibly in a nonlinear manner.

【 授权许可】

CC BY